Did Picasso paint Modigilani for the competition??

It's true what festivejane said, but i find funny that the women with the mexico flag seems to me the painter Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera's wife (not in that time).

But the paint of Modigliani by Picasso was also invented for the movie, or it will appear in every book of modern art.

all these answers thanks to the curiosity and perspicacity of some spectators prove that this film is an insult to our intelligence. what a difference with the famous Gerard Phillippe portraying Modigliani

My comments came in the heat of having just seen the movie; I little thought they'd ignite BigTam, whose 'own words and the visual expression within them' outrun mine.

On the subject of 'paintings in films', I heard Jack Hazan in a radio interview say that he'd refuse to do a film on a painter if he couldn't use the artist's original work. (Hazan directed 'A Bigger Splash' about David Hockney.) He said the makers of 'Love is the Devil' (about Francis Bacon) were refused permission to use originals by the trustees of Bacon's estate; Julian Schnabel may have had the same problem when he made his film about Basquiat (where Schnabel painted the 'Basqiats' in the film). If my (distant) recollection is right, in Jarman's film about Caravaggio and in the French films about Artemisia Gentileschi and Gericault (Bartabas), the paintings in the films were based on photographic blow-up's of unaltered originals .

It's relevant to say here: one of the occasional joys of cinema of the last few decades has been the inclusion of original artwork in films intended for a large public and not about artists ('Black Widow' and 'Changing Lanes' come to mind).
The art is often contemporary art we'd be unlikely to come across otherwise. Thanks to superior quality of color film and the discrimination of the filmmakers, we get the impact of this art as if it were for a moment a part of our lives, an impact different from that of the documentaries and semi-documentaries of, say, Kenneth Clark or Sacha Guitry, admirable in different ways.

The subject brings up a host of incidental issues, however--more appropriate no doubt for movie board discussion.

In the case of 'Modigliani' I was maybe using a hammer to crack a peanut.

More's the pity, as the male and female leads could have been brilliant in a better film.

The modestly budgeted film with Gerard Philipe as Modigliani shows the inhumanity of greed with simple, raw conviction.

Anyway, now you see, I hope, BigTam, there's no wall that completely divides documentary from movie, not on this issue.

Also, really talented artists--in fact, all artists from no talent to great genius--are generally much given to expressing their opinions. A number of great artists have written or been recorded: the results are unique as testimony and critique. Do you require a list, BigTam, or will you start finding out for yourself?

(thanks for correcting 'McCartney'--sorry Sir Paul)

LOL! Have to agree....